


Hope of Tomorrow

by Aermir



Category: Gravity Falls, Over the Garden Wall
Genre: Aged!Twins, Angst, Comfort, Dialogue Heavy, Fluff, Hurt, M/M, Tags May Change, dorks being awkward, pinescone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-03-28 19:37:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3867313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aermir/pseuds/Aermir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wirt thought that his junior year was going to be boring as always, until he comes face to face with a new kid. Someone by the name of Dipper Pines. Something about him catches his eye, and Wirt can't help but to try to be friends with this interesting boy. </p>
<p>Of course, something else has been stirring within the forest, believed to have been defeated but patiently waiting..</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

A slight breeze whispered through the trees, mixing in with the soothing and exuberant songs of the birds. The trees cast their varying sizes of shadows down onto the lush undergrowth below. Healthy and fast growing green grass covered the ground, clumping around the thick yet small trunks of the bushes scattered around. Brown and green vines hang from the sturdy limbs of the many trees, some drooping low to the earth, daring those brave souls to grasp onto them and swing around like some sort of monkey.

Pushing through the two bushes, a deer emerges. It's a doe, and she's on alert for any predators that may harm her fawn, who's cautiously trailing behind. Barely audible to the human ears was a soft squeak of alarm from a short-furred squirrel. The doe's head snapped up, her eyes full of panic. Her nostrils flared, trying to scent the possible predator lurking nearby. Her fawn instinctively laid down, hiding itself within the tall grass. The doe scanned the area around with her soft brown eyes. 

The wind slipped through the forest, quiet and gentle. Distant sounds of birdsong echoed in the air. The forest was at peace.

Twitching her nose, the doe lowered her head to tenderly nuzzle her fawn, telling it to stand and continue on, and that the coast was clear. The fawn stood on its frail and thin legs and bounced after its mother, eager to explore the new world. The doe softly tread through the grass, occasionally looking around or sniffing the air; she could never let her guard drop. 

Little did the doe and fawn know, there indeed was another being nearby. The squirrel had leaped onto one of the branches of an old and gnarled oak tree, stumbling upon the teenager perched upon a sturdy branch. The teenager remained perfectly still, but the squirrel let out a squeak, alerting the nearby deer to his presence. 

Wirt faintly smiled; being alone out in the forest helped him escape from his parents and any schoolwork that he was avoiding (which he would finish before it was due). He quickly jotted down a couple lines of a poem he had started the day before. 

After tapping the end of his pencil against his chin a couple of times, he gave up on continuing his poem. He stuck his pencil into the metal rings of his journal and put it inside his small backpack. Wirt had bought the backpack at a gift shop last summer purely for the reasons such as this. it was big enough to hold a couple journals, though he never kept more than two stored away. Greg had tried to use it to carry his frog, Jason Funderberker, in. He claimed it was the perfect size for Jason, (Wirt wanted to agree it was) but didn't want the backpack to be ruined. Making sure the straps were secure, Wirt climbed down the tree, jumping to the ground once reaching the lowest branch.

Wirt quickly found the path leading out of the forest and walked along it. The forest was popular among joggers and those who loved nature. But for Wirt, he loved to come here to write or just relax and observe his surroundings. 

It didn't take him long to find his way out of the forest. As he stepped out of the line of trees, he looked around for his bike, which was nowhere to be found.

"Oh, this is just great!" Wirt hissed under his breath.

This was the second time his bike had been stolen. The first time had been when a group of jocks had seen the bike (not hooked up) and took it for a ride. Wirt had thankfully been able to get it back from them, but this time it was not in sight. 

_Time to start walking,_ he thought, letting out a sigh. 

He looked up at the sky and grimaced; a storm was rolling in. Wirt picked up the pace, not wanting to find himself in the middle of the storm.

Rain started pouring not a second after Wirt had stepped into town. Big fat drops of rain splattered the ground, soaking all in its line of fire. People on the street, including Wirt, dashed for cover. Luckily there was a nearby cafe, though by the time Wirt ran in he was nearly soaked through. He hurriedly tore off his bag and opened it after reaching a booth near the back, panic setting in after realizing that his journal may have been ruined. 

"Oh, thank god," Wirt murmured, relief sweeping through him. His journal was in perfect condition; the water hadn't gotten inside his backpack. It was bone dry. He slid into the booth and rummaged through his backpack some more, looking for his wallet so he could buy a cup of coffee and one of those delicious looking blueberry scones.

A waitress came up and said, "Hello, welcome to the Bluebird Cafe. What would you like today?"

"Um, a vanilla latte and a blueberry scone."

She nodded, jotted down his order and walked off. 

The word bluebird still reminded him of Beatrice, a talking bird who actually turned out to be a human. She had gotten cursed by the so called 'Good Lady of the Woods,' or Adelaide. Wirt missed her company and her sassy remarks, even if some of them angered him or got him down. She was still a friend. 

"Here's your latte and scone," the waitress said, pacing the steaming and frothy latte and glazed scone down in front of him. 

"Thank you," Wirt mumbled, fishing out a couple dollars to pay. She flashed him a smile and walked off, leaving Wirt alone once again. He took the pencil out of the rings of his journal and opened it to a new page. 

Wirt was so absorbed in his poem that he forgot about his scone, with had grown somewhat cold. A loud squeal snapped him out of his daze. He lifted his head and saw a girl clutching a pig to her chest with a waitress that served him talking to her. 

"You can't have animals in here," the waitress said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Waddles won't be a bother! Isn't that right?" the girl replied. She snatched the hat off the boy next to her (which Wirt guessed was her brother since the two practically looked the same) and put it on the pigs head. He frantically flattened his hair as he let out a cry of protest, which was cut off by his sister. 

"Look at him! How can you say no to that face?"

_The pig is actually kinda cute,_ Wirt thought, interested in the event going on. 

"Mabel, give me my hat back!" the boy exclaimed, reaching to retrieve the blue and what hat with a blue pine tree on the front. 

The girl, Mabel, ignoring her brothers protests, held up her big closer to the waitress, giving her a look of pure desperation.

"Just this once." The waitress had given in.

Mabel let out a squeal of delight and bounded over to a nearby booth, which just happened to be right in front of the one Wirt was sitting in. He shrunk a little in his seat; he didn't feel like talking to anyone due to his super wet clothes. He guessed he probably had a bit of a haggard sort of look due to his crazy hair that was beginning to dry. Wirt's lips became a tight line as he looked down at the poems in front of him. His gaze shifted to his cold scone and probably still hot coffee. Wirt picked up the scone and tore it in half, choosing the save the other half for his little brother, Greg. Even cold, it was still delicious. The sugar glaze sweetened the bread, and the occasional tinge of blueberry made it perfect. After devouring his half, Wirt was tempted to eat the other half but knew his brother would be disappointed if he didn't get any. Instead, he settled for taking a sip of his latte. 

Not sweet enough.

Wirt looked outside of rain had ceased. He threw his notebook and pencil in his bag, putting the halved scone inside with more care. Wirt slid out from the booth and put his backpack on, picking up his latte to head over to the little area on the main counter to add more sugar to his latte. Being inside the cafe had made his clothes grow cold, and Wirt felt goosebumps rise on his skin. He nodded to himself after getting the right amount of sugar added. But, Wirt suddenly got the feeling that someone had their eyes on him. Trying not to be obvious, Wirt kept his head lowered as his eyes darted around the cafe, acting like he was still fixing his drink.

The boy with the white and blue hat was staring right at Wirt. Their eyes met for an instant.

Wirt quickly looked away, feeling his cheeks heat up, and stiffly walked out the door. Once he crossed the road and right as he set his foot down, a drop of rain hit the back of his head. Another fell after another and another. Wirt instantly whirled around and made a mad dash back into the cafe. All eyes rotated to the sopping wet teen as he burst in, the sound of rain flooding into the cafe. Hanging his head, Wirt sat right back down in the booth he was in before.

Stupid rain. Stupid wet cold clothes. Stupid-

"Do you need a ride home?" said a voice that cut into Wirt's thoughts.

The teenager looked up and saw that the girl from before was staring at him from her booth, having turned around to talk to him.

"Oh, um, no. I'm fine. It's fine," Wirt stammered.

"Are you sure? It's going to be raining like this for the rest of the day."

"I can-I can get a ride home. It's okay. Really."

"Are you sure you're sure?"

"Y-yes." This was getting more awkward by the second. 

"Mabel, quit bothering the guy," said the other boy.

"But I'm not bothering him! Riiight?" Mabel asked, drawing out her last word.

Before Wirt could reply, the two started bickering back and forth. Mabel had a wide grin on her face as she teased her twin brother. Wirt took advantage of the moment to pull out his phone, which had luckily been stashed away in his backpack.

_Hey Mom. I'm stuck at the Bluebird Cafe. Can you come pick me up?_

He thought a second, and then sent,  _May want to bring a towel too. My clothes are soaked._

"... and you're scaring him!"

Wirt looked up in surprise. "No, no. You aren't scaring me. I-I just needed to send a text to my mom. It's okay."

"See? I told you," Mabel grinned, giving her brother a playful nudge with her shoulder. She then turned back to Wirt. "I'm Mabel, by the way. My grumpy brother is Dipper."

"Hey!" Dipper said, protesting at the grumpy brother comment.

"I'm Wirt."

"Nice to meet you, Wirt!" Mabel chirped. "So why are you soaked?"

"I kinda had my bike stolen when I was out in the forest wri- walking. Yeah. I was walking. It started raining on me on way back so yeah.."

"Someone stole your bike?! That's so rude!" Mabel exclaimed.

"It's okay, really. I'll get it back eventually." He doubted he would ever see his bike again.

Wirt's phone buzzed on the table.

_I'm outside. Run fast because it's still pouring. :)_

"My mom's outside," Wirt began, sliding his phone back into his backpack. "Maybe I'll see you guys around, I think. I-it's a small town after all."

"I hope we can see you again!" Mabel said, waving at Wirt as he left the cafe. Dipper only offered a slight nod. Wirt gave both of them a small smile and pushed on the door.

He made a break for his mom's car, feeling the cold rain pummel him again. He gratefully crawled into the car, sighing with relief after wrapping himself in one of the towels waiting for him.

"How did your day go, sweetie?" she asked, starting to drive away.

"Beside from the rain, fine."

"That's good, and be sure to hang your clothes when you get home." His mom turned down their street. "And may want to take a  warm shower too. Don't want to catch a cold."

Wirt said nothing and stared out the car window. It had been a long day and he was tired. Not to mention school started in three days. Summer had been boring as always. He hadn't gone anywhere and sat at home, occasionally going out of the house to get some fresh air. Wirt didn't say anything as he got out of the car, opting to head straight to his room to take a shower and get out of those horrid wet clothes.

An hour later, Wirt had taken a shower and was already in his pajamas.

But he wasn't in bed. School usually didn't stress him out, but it was tonight. He was going to be a junior this coming year, and frankly it was stressing him more than it should have. His parents and brother were in the dining room eating while Wirt was pacing, stressing, worrying.

"Wirt?" His brother stepped into the room.

"What is it, Greg?"

"Are you going to come eat? Mom said your food is going to get cold if you don't. Jason Funderberker agrees with her too."

"I can't eat. Just... just tell Mom that I'll eat later tonight."

Greg sensed something was wrong and went over to his half brother. He looked up at him and asked, "What are you worrying about? Do you not want what's for dinner tonight? I can get you potatoes and molasses. But I don't know where I could find molasses, but I can try!"

Wirt smiled faintly, "No, it's alright. I'm just not hungry."

"Is it school? I heard Mom talking about it to Dad."

"No... yes. Maybe. I don't know." Wirt started pacing again.

"You'll figure it out! And that's a rock fact!"

"Thanks, Greg."

"You're welcome, brother o' mine! Now, let's go get some ice cream!"

"Not until you've eaten your dinner."

"I've already eaten!"

"I doubt that. Come on, if you promise to eat all of your vegetables I'll give you part of my blueberry scone that I got today," Wirt said, reaching for Greg's hand. 

Greg grinned and happily followed Wirt into the dining room, talking about how he couldn't wait to have that blueberry scone  _and_ ice cream. When the two brothers appeared in the doorway to the dining room, their parents looked up. Their mom smiled at the sight of Wirt holding Greg's hand. 

"Is... is my dinner cold?" Wirt asked.

"Not at all. Come and eat," she replied. 

Wirt went to bed after eating and making sure to give the scone to Greg, and luckily didn't feel as bad as he did before.

But he was still worrying about school. Ah, well, only time would tell how things would go.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of Wirt's summer went by too fast for his liking. And one thing was for sure: he was not a morning person at all. The moment his alarm went off at six AM sharp Wirt's eyes immediately flew open and he glared at the clock with such a burning intensity it could almost melt. He hit the snooze button and rolled back over, burrowing under his comforter. His bed refused to let him go, and he refused to move. It was like laying on a giant marshmallow and-

"Wirt! Wake up or else you're going to be late for school!" said his step-dad, then threw the teen's door open, flooding his room with unwelcome and harsh light.

Wirt groaned and pulled the comforter over his head.

"Always so difficult to wake up," muttered his step-dad, walking over to the bed. He pulled the covers off Wirt, who in result let out a cry of protest. 

"You'll make it to school in time if you run there. Now get moving else I'll send Greg in here."

_Maybe you should have sent Greg in here in the first place. He's a whole lot better at waking me up than you,_ Wirt thought, not daring to say that out loud. He shot his step-dad an unhappy look as he walked by, heading into the kitchen to get some breakfast. As usual, there were two pieces of toast and a glass of orange juice on the counter for Wirt that his mom had made for him earlier. Wirt wolfed down the toasted and drained the glass of orange juice, then set the plate and glass in the sink. Still somewhat asleep, he stumbled back into his room to change into some clothes. Wirt put on a pair of jeans, a white button up long sleeved shirt, and a blue sweater. They always kept it too cold in school, so both were necessary. It took him only a couple minutes to brush his hair and teeth in the bathroom, then it was back to the bedroom to grab his backpack. Wirt stuffed his phone in his pocket, put his backpack on, and rushed out the door. 

It took him about ten minutes of non-stop running to get to school on time. Well, he had a couple minutes to spare. Wirt flopped down in a vacant seat near the back of the classroom. History was his first class, and he knew the teacher, Mr. Grey, wouldn't give the class seating charts, so the seat Wirt was in would be his for the rest of the year. Wirt nervously watched the other students trickle in, filling up the seats int he classroom one by one. The seat in front of him was taken, leaving the one to his left open. The tardy bell blared throughout the school, telling any stragglers that they were late and would have to go to the front office to get a tardy slip. 

"I hope everyone had a great summer," Mr. Grey began, striding to the front of class. A couple of teens murmured that they did, but other than that, the class was silent. He adjusted his glasses and squinted through his old yet young eyes, his grey hair sticking up at odd angles. Mr. Grey was known to be passionate about history, and often had a crazed look in his eyes when he really got into it. Students learned their material well, and he was a respected teacher. You mess with Mr. Grey, you mess with all of his loyal students.

"There must have been some sort of interesting event. No one went and saw some historical sights? Shame, I normally have one or two that have at least gone to the monuments in Washington D.C. What's that? Oh! The Lincoln Memorial? And you didn't go see the Washington Memorial? Or any of the Smithsonian's? Ah, well, least you went and saw something! I'd take you all on a trip to D.C. if I could, but I don't believe that the school would want to pay for that." Mr. Grey had a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Or they may with some convincing."

"Now!" He clapped his hands loudly, snapping any dozing students awake (Wirt may have been one of them) and said, "History. Such an intriguing yet fickle subject. For all we know, some events could have been entirely different. In this class, U.S. History, you'll learn what happened from the moment Christopher Columbus stepped onto American soil to the current events that are happening this very second. But for today-"

Someone had knocked, interrupting Mr. Grey from his speech. Wirt blinked the sleep from his eyes and straightened up in his seat. Mr. Grey opened the door and in came a late and lone student.

"Mr-Mr. Grey, right?" stammered the kid, looking from his schedule to meet Mr. Grey's stare.

"You're looking at him. And you're late."

"I'm new here, so I just got my schedule and all..."

New kid? That got everyone's attention.

"Ah, I see. Go have a seat then; you won't get my famous speech I give to late students normally."  (Those speeches usually took up thirty minutes of class time.)

As the kid started to look for an open desk, preferably in the back, Mr. Grey asked, "And what is your name?"

"Dipper, sir, uh, Dipper Pines."

"Well, nice to have you, Dipper."

Wirt's head snapped up. Dipper? Wasn't that the name of that twin from the cafe? It had to be. He was wearing that same blue and white pine tree hat. How could he have even gotten past the principal, Mrs. Tucker, who was extremely strict on her no hat policy.

"Mind if I sit here?"

Dipper was looking at Wirt, hand on the back of the chair on the desk next to him.

"Uh, sure. I don't mind."

"Thanks." Dipper slid into the chair after taking his backpack off and putting it on the ground next to him.

"Welcome," Wirt mumbled.

An extremely awkward moment of silence followed.

"Aren't you that person from the cafe?" Dipper asked, breaking the ice.

Wirt jumped. "Um, yeah. If you're talking about the Bluebird Cafe."

"Sorry about my sister. She can be a handful sometimes."

"Oh. It's okay."

"Wirt, right?"

"Yes."

"Cool." He held out his hand," Dipper, in case you forgot."

Wirt shook the other boys hand. Was his hand always this sweaty? Maybe it was Dipper's. Maybe it was his. Maybe it was both.

"I didn't think you and your sister lived here. I mean, it was my first time seeing you here and everything, since it is a small town anyways."

"We just moved here actually. About three weeks ago, I think. Something like that."

"That-that makes sense. Well, I hope you like it here. With the lakes, ponds, and all."

"It's a whole lot more interesting than the old town, Piedmont, California, that I used to live in, but the place I go to during the summer beats it though."

"Oh." Wirt didn't really know what to say. He looked down at his lap and fiddled with his thumbs.

Mr. Grey had continued to drone on while the two boys ceased to talk.

"Hey, do you know where Miss Lynhart's room is?" Dipper asked, dropping his voice low so Mr. Grey wouldn't hear.

"Oh, oh, wow. That's the AP physics teacher. Well, not entirely since I'm in her only regular physics class, and - but yeah, I know where it is. It's by my next class so I can show you where it's at."

"Thanks. This school is set up weird so it's kinda hard for me to figure out where everything is at."

"You didn't get a map?" Wirt blinked, surprised.

Dipper opened his backpack and found his schedule (which he had stuffed inside after sitting down), but no map. "Don't think so."

"Wait, did they..." Oh my god they did." Wirt laughed, quietly, getting his own schedule out. He turned it over. "They printed the map of the school on the back of the schedules. It was probably to help reduce the amount of paper used. Last year we went through so much paper it was unreal. The people who collected paper from recycling bins were pretty much working constantly. I'd see them at least once a day."

Dipper checked the back of his schedule and sure enough, there was the map. "Wow, thanks again. I'd be more lost than usual if I hadn't met you."

_Was that supposed to make me blush?_ Wirt thought, feeling his face heat up a little. "Um, no problem. Though I'm not really that good at giving directions."  _Or being the leader._

Dipper only smiled at him and turned his attention to the front of the classroom, where Mr. Grey was flailing his arms about. Wirt started to return the gesture with a brief smile of his own but let it slide from his face after Dipper had focused his attention to the teacher.

~*****~

To Wirt's surprise, he and Dipper shared a couple classes together. History was their first class of the day, then English III before lunch, lunch after English, and art to end the day. Neither boys were good at the art of spending "too many painful hours trying to get a couple freaking lines to look right," as Dipper had described it. Wirt laughed at that when the two had chosen to sit at the back of the art room together. Wirt had gotten the seat to where his back was to the wall while Dipper sat across from him. There was one thing Wirt hadn't counted on: to find himself being smothered by Mabel, who had practically squealed the moment she saw both the boys.

Wirt let out a strangled yelp as his vision was blocked by a pink sweater.

"Mabel, oh my god, don't suffocate him," Dipper sighed.

Mabel stepped back, a wide grin plastered on her face. "I would never do that! And I thought you weren't going to take art, brobro." She then flopped down in the seat next to Wirt. The desks were wide enough for two students to share one, and had two plastic (and uncomfortable) chairs for each desk. 

"I needed a fine arts credit since my past two years of band didn't transfer over for some stupid reason. Mom said she'd call in and get it fixed though."

Wirt's heart sunk; he enjoyed Dipper's company and didn't want him to transfer out of his regular classes.

"If you do get those credits back, you should still stay in art with me and Wirt. It'll be fun!"

The brown haired teen shrugged, "Depends on what credits I need."

"We're juniors though! We should have gotten most of our credits by now."

"I have AP classes to take. Speaking of classes, I'm still mad that my schedule got messed up."

"Sorry for interrupting, but the school allows you to change your schedule within the first two or three weeks of school. it's pretty packed the first week, so, um, I'd suggest going next week," Wirt said, feeling slightly bad for butting in.

"Great," Dipper muttered.

"Looks like you'll be spending the next week with us!" Mabel seemed way too happy about that.

Their art teacher, Mrs. Jones, called for the attention of the class. She wished they all had a great summer and such, and started the traditional (and boring) introduction to the class and waht they would cover that year. Wirt stifled a yawn; the first day of school was always super long and boring.

Mabel took that opportunity to scoot her chair closer to his and put her elbow on the desk, propping her head up on her hand, and looked at Wirt.

"Sooooo, since you're from here, you must know of some pretty nice spots to go to," Mabel purred.

"Uh, like scenic places? I, um, don't really know any besides that there's some paths in a forest outside of town but they're pretty lame and I totally don't go there. not at all. Hah... haha..." Wirt babbled nervously. _Oh god, oh god, is she flirting with me? No one's ever really flirted with me and oh gosh how do I react to this._

He was panicking.

"Do they hang over any pretty cliffs with great views? The paths. One of them have to at least."

"There aren't... there aren't really any cliffs around here. It's just mainly hills and lakes. Ponds and lakes."

Was it hot in here? Wirt felt like it was. Maybe it was the fact that this girl was flirting with him. Oh god, Mabel was flirting with him.

Again, Dipper saved Wirt from an extremely awkward situation. "Mabel, you're making the poor guy nervous. Again. Besides, I think Mrs. Jones would love to see your scrapbook."

Mabel considered the idea, torn between continuing to talk (or flirt) with Wirt or show off her super cool scrapbook that she had made over the summer.

"Oh, Mrs. Jones!"

She had gone with the scrapbook. But she could always talk to Wirt later.

"Thank you." Wirt breathed a sigh of relief. "I guess it was pretty obvious that I was nervous or whatever."

"No problem, man," Dipper said, giving the other boy another smile. "She'll calm down in about a week. And to be honest, I'm kinda shocked that she's still on this whole boy-crazy stage. Been like that since twelve, and we turned fifteen like a couple weeks ago."

Wirt didn't say anything and looked down at the table. The talk of crushes, it was all weird and awkward to him. Yeah, he did have a crush on Sara for a while, but things just didn't work out between the two. He thought too much. And those thoughts normally went to the Unknown, even though he and Greg had gone to that fateful place nearly a year ago.

He tried not to think about it, but his mind turned on him sometimes.

Wirt had made a beeline to the elementary school after the bell rang and after saying goodbye to Dipper and Mabel. Maybe... maybe if he had at least one class with Dipper, school wouldn't be too bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this chapter; school got in the way. I may try to start updating on Wednesdays as well. (If school doesn't start taking up my time due to finals in a couple weeks)  
> Also sorry of the chapter seems kinda repetitive and such, I only really had time to work on it at night and I'm normally pretty tired from the day. ;w;


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay wow. I am super sorry about the major delay on this. School's been getting in the way (I get out next Thursday!) so I haven't really had time. I barely managed to finish typing up the rest of this chapter today too. (I actually write out the chapters in a notebook and then type it on a computer. Why? Because I'm weird like that and it's easier for me to get ideas. I found it hard to write a story when I'm on the computer.)  
> My tumblr is http://lyeox.tumblr.com/ if you guys wanna come chat with me there! I won't bite, I promise~  
> Anyways enjoy!
> 
> (Also for some reason the notes from the first chapter are at the end of this one? If anyone else if seeing it please tell me so I can try and fix it.)

A week later after the first day of school, on that next difficult Monday, only a couple things had changed. Wirt and Dipper found it a bit easier to talk to each other without too much awkwardness, though Wirt worried almost constantly that he bothered the other boy. Dipper found himself telling Wirt that it was okay and that he wasn't bothering him. Wirt felt like he was an open book around Dipper too; that guy must have mind powers or something. Mabel realized that Wirt was overwhelmed by her flirting, and decided to stop Besides, he and her brother seemed like they would be great friends, and she didn't want to ruin that for them.

But, one thing had not changed.

Wirt still hated his alarm clock.

He groaned as he rolled out of bed, falling on the floor and taking his comforter with him. He had also failed to turn off his alarm, which seemed to have been rising to the pitch of a shrieking banshee. Wirt slammed his hand on the alarm, silencing it. He glared at the red numbers.

"You're going to be late if-"

“I know,” Wirt snapped, throwing his door open and stomping past his step dad.

“Don’t get cocky with me.”

Wirt shrugged, still half asleep, and found his way into the kitchen.

He made it out the door with time to spare, and walked to school with a leisurely pace. He had sat down in his chair in history class right as the bell rang, saving himself from a lecture. That walk had taken longer than he anticipated, but oh well, at least he got to class on time.

But there was one thing wrong.

Dipper wasn’t there. He must have gone to get his schedule changed. Wirt’s shoulders slumped.

That meant no more making snide comments about long dead people of history, or getting into discussions about events that even got Mr. Grey involved.

One week had passed and it seemed that Wirt and Dipper were meant to be best friends.

But they couldn’t see each other during school anymore.

During school.

That’s it!

Wirt could ask Mabel if he could have Dipper’s number.

But then again, wouldn’t that seem a little… creepy? Wirt sighed. He was going to ask, no matter how awkward it would be for him.

Though… maybe Dipper wouldn’t have any time to text him, even if he did give Wirt his number.

Wirt was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t see the one and only Dipper walk into the classroom, who gave Mr. Grey his tardy slip.

“You’re late.”

“Yes, sir, I know. It won’t happen again.”

“That’s what they all say,” Mr. Grey snorted. “Care to tell me why you were late?”

“My sister’s pig, Waddles, got out and we had to chase him through our whole neighborhood. He must have smelled something that got his attention so that’s why he didn’t listen. He normally does though.”

Mr. Grey narrowed his eyes at Dipper, debating whether he should believe the teen or not. He looked at the class and barked, “Get back to work.” He turned to Dipper, “I’ll accept this excuse this time, so there will be no speech as you lot like to call it.”

“T-thank you,” Dipper said, before wheeling around and going straight to his desk, where a very torn Wirt was.

“You okay, man?” Dipper questioned.

Wirt jumped. “Dipper! You’re here. I-I mean, I thought you switched out to move to AP, so I wasn’t really expecting to see you here.”

“Nah, I figured I would stay in the regular classes I have this year. I’m still going to take the AP exam at the end of the year for these classes though.”

Wirt’s ears burned. “Oh, I see. I hope it isn’t because of me. I don’t want to hold you back or something.” Stupid, stupid, stupid mouth.

“Mabel convinced me to stay, to be honest. She had some valid points too, so here I am.”

The gangly teen nodded, finding that his voice wasn’t wanting to work. He was glad Dipper chose to say, but a little guilty too. How was Dipper going to do well on the AP exam at the end of the year if he did regular class work?

Dipper placed his hand on Wirt’s shoulder and gave him a comforting squeeze. “I’ve already asked Mr. Grey to help me prepare for the exam by grading my assignments and such harsher, so you can stop worrying.”

“How could you tell?” Wirt squeaked.

“I could see it all over your face. And, thanks to Mabel over the years, it’s not too hard for me to read people.”

“Oh.” What is it with me and being so awkward with this guy?

Dipper grinned at him and removed his hand from Wirt’s shoulder, moving to take out his notebook to write down the notes for the lesson for the day.

The day went by slow as usual, save for the classes Wirt had with Dipper. Art was interesting since Mabel had resorted to teasing Dipper about something that left her brother flustered and Wirt very confused.

Wirt excused himself from thet able to get himself a drink of water from the water fountain down the hall from the art room. Things had been getting a little awkward.... again. Something had led him to believe that the twins were talking about him. But that was stupid. They couldn’t have been talking about him. The thought still lingered.

Wirt accidentally snorting water instantly got him to stop thinking about them. He coughed and made a dash to the nearby bathroom, snatching some paper towels from the dispenser. Once making sure he looked decent enough, he returned to the art room.

He didn’t think it was possible, but Dipper’s face turned redder at the sight of him.

“Are you alright?” Wirt asked, sitting down.

“I think I know if I’m okay thank you very much.”

“Since my brother won’t ask, I’ll ask for him. Do you have a phone, Wirt?” Mabel practically beamed at the tall boy.

“I do, actually. Why?” Something was definitely up.

“Dipper is wondering if-”

“Mabel!”

“-he could have your number.”

Dipper groaned and covered his face with his hands.

“Sure. I wouldn’t mind. I can put my number in your phone if you give it to me,” Wirt said. “I’d give you my phone, but I forgot to charge it last night so it’s kinda dead.”

Mabel let out a quiet squeal as Dipper handed Wirt his phone. Their fingers brushed slightly, causing both of them to blush. Wirt typed in his contact information and offered the phone back to Dipper, wishing his cheeks weren’t so pink.

“Y-you can text me whenever you want to. I have a lot of freetime so…” Wirt muttered.

“Sure, um, thanks.”

“No problem. Oh, and if you get random jibberish or a picture of a frog, then that means my little brother got my phone. He doesn’t know how to type that well but he figured out how to take and send pictures. It’s a nuisance really.”

“You have a little brother?!” Mabel gasped, eyes wide.

“Oh boy.” Dipper sounded worried.

Wirt nodded uneasily, “He’ll be turning nine in a couple weeks.”

“I have to meet him!”

“Mabel no.”

“MABEL YES.”

Her gaze snapped to Wirt like a hawk after spotting its prey. “Please, please, please let me meet him! I’ll bring Dipper along even!”

“Oh, wow sure, treat me like some sort of dog.”

“I guess you can meet him? But it’ll have to be this weekend. My parents don’t get home until late so we can’t really do much.

“Okay! Dipper, be sure to text Wirt so we can hang out this weekend!”

Wirt smiled at Dipper and whispered, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. It would be nice, but I really don’t text anyone.” His cheeks reddened after his mind processed what he had just said.

~~*~~

“I want to go meet Mabel today!” Greg exclaimed once Wirt had told him the news.

“We can’t, you know that. Besides, the weekend will be here before you know it.”

“I hope so. Do you think Jason Funderberker can come?”

“Maybe.”

“He wants to come!”

“Maybe, Greg. Come on, let’s get a snack until Mom and your dad get home.”

With Greg content, Wirt retreated to his room to drop off his backpack. Greg hadn’t give him time to do so after arriving home. Wirt plugged in his phone, having to wait a minute or two for it to come back from the dead. It vibrated, telling him that he had a text message; it probably was from his mom. Of course, at that moment, Greg decided to make some sort of ungodly noise from the living room. Wirt bolted out of his room.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, panic edging his voice.

“My favorite show has a new episode!”

Wirt smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand. “So you screamed?”

“Yes.”

“What if the neighbors think something is wrong? What if they call 911? Greg, you can’t make noises like that. It scares people. Especially me. I don’t want to think that you’re hurt again.”

“I’m sorry, Wirt. I didn’t mean to worry you. I was just excited, that’s all.”

“It’s okay, Greg.

“I’ll be right back, okay? I just need to grab a couple things from my room.”

Wirt walked to his room, got his phone (and charge so it wouldn’t die again) and his homework. He settled down on the recliner and plugged his phone in. Oh right. Mom texted me.

It wasn’t his mom.

_Hey, it’s Dipper. Mabel made me text you so…_

Wirt nearly squeaked at the sight of the text, and his heart fluttered. He saved Dipper’s number in his phone and sent a text back.

_Hello, and sorry for replying so late._

Not a minute later, Dipper replied.

_It’s cool man. So… what’s up?_

_Nothing really, besides watching my brother. You?_

_Doing homework._

_Do you want me to leave you alone? So you can focus? I don’t want you to get a bad grade on your homework because of me._

_I can multitask. It’s no big deal really._

He then sent another text _. Besides, I like talking to you._

Wirt’s cheeks burned, and he hadn’t registered the fact that he was smiling.

“What are you smiling about, brother o’ mine?”

“Erm, it’s nothing!”

“It’s got to be something. Is it on your phone? Can I see?”

“Greg, no. It’s nothing. Go back to watching your show.”

“But I want to see!”

“Oh my god, no. Don’t touch my phone - Greg!”

His little brother had bounded over to Wirt and snatched his phone. Wirt chased after him, his voice rising a pitch with worry.

“Don’t text him!” Wirt screeched.

“Dipper? Is that his name?”

“Oh my god don’t talk to him!”

Greg cackled as he ran around the kitchen table. Wirt let out a yelp when he stubbed his toe on a chair. he fell to the ground and curled up in a ball, nursing his throbbing toe.

“And send!”

Wirt gaped at Greg and hissed, “What did you send?!”

The eight year old offered the teen’s phone back, a triumphant smile on his face. Wirt seized his phone and immediately scrolled through the messages.

Four pictures. Greg took and sent four pictures.

And all of them were to Dipper.

He had sent a picture of Wirt chasing after him with Greg’s spastic brown hair showing around the bottom of the picture. The next was with Wirt’s mouth open due to him screeching at Greg across the table. The third was where Wirt was all blurred since he was falling to the ground and the last was of him curled up in a ball on the kitchen floor.

His life was over. He had barely been texting the guy for ten minutes and Wirt bet that Dipper wouldn’t want to talk to him.

His phone vibrated.

_Are you okay?_

_Stubbed toes hurt (at least I think you stubbed your toe… kinda hard to tell because the picture is blurry)_

_And I guess it’s kinda obvious that your brother got your phone. I can see the top of his head in that first picture._

Wirt’s face was on fire from the multiple texts.

_Yeah, I’m okay. I’m really sorry about the pictures though. Just ignore them…_

_Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. Your expressions in the first two are hilarious._

_They are not! I look even more like a dork._

_… Ignore the last bit. Please._

_You’re not a dork. If anyone’s a dork, it’ll be me. Mabel’s gotten mad at me so many times for mumbling to myself and clicking my pen while reading a book when we were at the Mystery Shack._

Wirt laughed quietly at the mental image got of Dipper doing that and Mabel just bolting up in her bed and fussing at him for keeping her awake.

 _Mystery Shack?_ Was that the place he and his sister went to during the summer?

_It’s a tourist hotspot that my Grunkle Stan lures people into with the allure of the ‘paranormal’ beasts he’s got on display. They’re all fake. I don’t see how people fall for it. But, it’s still fun going there every summer though._

The two ended up texting each other well beyond the time Wirt’s parents got home. They seemed to always find something to talk about.

“Wirt, get your nose out of your phone and eat your dinner before it gets cold,” Mom said. “Who are you texting anyways?”

“Dipper!” Greg shouted.

“Dipper?” Dad asked.

“Someone from school,” was Wirt’s reply. His tone made it clear that he didn’t want to talk about it.

His step-dad didn’t take the hint. “New friend?”

“Guess you could say that.”

“Is he new to the school?”

“Yep.” Wirt started shoveling his food into his mouth faster, wanting to go to his room as fast as possible. He wanted to keep texting Dipper.

“We’re going to meet him and his sister Mabel this weekend,” Greg said.

“Oh, are you?” Their mom cocked an eyebrow at the two.

“I was going to ask but it, er, slipped my mind,” muttered Wirt, wishing that sometimes Greg thought before he spoke.

“Well I don’t see a problem with it. Tom?”

“I’m fine with it, if you kids don’t cause any trouble.”

“Woo! I get to meet Mabel and Dipper!”

 _Oh boy. I hope Mabel knows what she’s getting into_ , Wirt thought. Though they’ll probably get along great. Don’t look forward to going home after we all hang out. Greg’s going to cling to her.

The rest of the week zoomed by for Wirt. Greg, on the other hand, complained that the week was going by slower than Wirt in the mornings. (“Hilarious, Greg.”)

“So what time should we meet up?” Mabel sat down beside Wirt.

“Uhh, I was thinking ten-ish? Could be sooner if Greg decides to wake me up at the crack of dawn.”

“Not a morning person?” Dipper smirked.

“No, not at all.”

“Don’t worry, Dip isn’t either. He stays up all night reading those boring old books.”

“They are not boring!”

“Yes, they are. You need to at least let me bedazzle them! Then they would look so more interesting!”

“No, no, no, and no. Don’t come in my room anymore.”

Wirt had to hold his hand over his mouth to stifle the laughter building up inside him. Their bickering reminded him of when he and Beatrice would throw snarky comments at each other.

The bell rang, interrupting the two twins.

“See you tomorrow, Wirt!” Mabel smiled, giving him a hug. Her eyes darted to her brother for a moment and then skipped away.

“Should I expect a hug from you too?” Wirt nervously asked.

It was Dipper’s turn to be awkward. “If you want, well, maybe.”

“Save it for tomorrow then?”

“Okay. Tomorrow it is.”

Wirt was more excited for tomorrow than he wanted to admit.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I aM SO VERY SORRY FOR THIS SUPER LATE CHAPTER. SUMMER WAS UTTER HELL AND I BARELY HAD TIME TO DO ANYTHING BESIDES SUMMER SCHOOL PROJECTS.   
> BUT, on a better note, now that school has started (like a month ago lmao) and things have calmed down, I have more free time now! So that means more frequent updates. I'm planning on uploading the next chapter on Halloween!   
> Enjoy the super duper late chapter!

It was safe to say that Greg was beyond thrilled to meet up with the twins that day at the park. He threw open the door to Wirt’s room at the second the clock struck seven in the morning.

“Wirt, Wirt, wake up! We’re going to the park to see Mabel and Dipper!”

“We aren’t supposed to meet up with them until ten. I still have another…” Wirt checked the clock, “two hours to sleep.” He pulled the covers over his head.

“Come on, wake up. I want waffles. I can hear them calling my name!”

“Get Mom to make you some.”

“But I want the ones you make. You make the best.”

Wirt didn’t reply, and with a huff, threw off the covers and trapped Greg underneath them. Greg squealed with delight and laughed.

“Lemme out!” he giggled, searching for a way out of the evil comforter. Greg wiggled his way out, his head popping out of the covers.

The older brother smirked and raced out of the room, shouting, “I’m going to eat all of the waffles by myself!”

“What - no!” Greg called after him, squirming around to escape from the tangled sheets and comforter. He let out an oof after clunking down to the ground, though the younger brother was quickly up and about, zooming to the kitchen as fast as his little legs could carry him. Their mother must have overheard them talking about making waffles and had started taking out the ingredients needed. Wirt mumbled a quiet thanks and began mixing everything together, while Greg launched into a speech about how important breakfast was, especially waffles.

Wirt couldn’t help but to smile.

“... And now you see why breakfast is so important,” the eight year old proudly concluded.

“Interesting, Greg,” Tom said, pulling out one of the chairs at the table. “Let’s see if Chef Wirt worked his magic again.”

“I wouldn’t call it magic,” he scoffed. “Mom taught me well.”

“I think it is magic,” she agreed, ruffling the teenagers hair as she walked to the table.

Wirt shook his head, turning the waffle maker off. He brought the plate of waffles to the table, not worrying about anything else due to their mom already having set the table. Greg stabbed the waffle on top with his fork, earning a laugh from their parents, and a shake of the head from Wirt.

“Thank you, Wirt!” Greg practically beamed, drenching his waffle in syrup.

“You’re welcome.”

They ate their meal mainly in peace, save for the small chat among their parents. Greg was too busy devouring his meal to talk. Wirt was the first one to finish eating. He got up and walked over to the sink, putting his plate to the side of it. Out of habit, he helped his mom clean the kitchen once they were all done eating. Wirt looked at the clock: eight-thirty. He still had some time to burn. Maybe he could crawl back in bed, with his warm covers and fluffy pillows that were like -

“Are you listening?” Greg stared up at him.

“Huh?”

“I asked you a question.”

“Sorry, Greg. I wasn’t listening.”

“I asked if we could go to the park.”

“So early? Dipper and Mabel won’t show up until 10 or so.”

“I’m bored!”

“You’ll just have to wait until nine-thirty to go to the park. That’s an hour away.”

“But I’m so booored!”

“I think your favorite show may be on.”

Greg gasped and fled to the living room, giving Wirt enough time to run up to his room. He shimmied out of his pajamas, then threw on a pair of jeans and an orange sweater. He hesitated; it was still a little hot out. He sighed, and took off his sweater, exchanging it for a blue short sleeved shirt. He barely had enough time to finish brushing his teeth and hair before Greg stomped upstairs, mentioning something about being tricked.

Greg huffed at his older brother.

“Okay, okay, let’s go to the park.” Wirt put his phone in his pocket.

“Woohoo!”

The two bid goodbye to their parents as the left the house, stepping out into the clear morning. Wirt loved mornings like these; the sun up in the sky, the temperature not too hot, and not too cold, and with the cheerful birdsong filling the air.

Greg started singing his own tune, one that Wirt knew instantly.

_Oh, we’re going to the park to meet up with the twins and ask them if they know how to have fun!_

_I don’t know who they are or how they are or when or why they are, but as for where they are, they are where we will go!_

_To the twins! To the twins! Come on and join the Friend Parade! To the twins! To the twins! We’re going to the park today!_

“Very nice, Greg. Did you come up with those new lyrics just now or were you thinking of them last night?”

“Both! Jason Funderberker helped too! Isn’t that right?”

“ _Ribbit_.”

Wirt grinned, “Of course he helped.”

Greg swung his frog around, twirling in a circle as he grinned and giggled. Wirt let out a laugh after Greg bumped into him, both his little brother and frog ribbiting at the same time.

“Ribbit, ribbit!” Greg croaked, facing Wirt with Jason Funderberker perched on his head.

“Oh no! You’ve switched to frog talk!” Wirt exclaimed, placing one hand over his mouth and pointing at Greg with the other.

“Ribbit, ribbitee, ribbitoo, ribbita!”

The park loomed up ahead, the welcoming trees offering shade from the now glaring sun. Wirt was relieved that he had decided to go with the short sleeved shirt. Greg skipped ahead, humming a random tune.

“Wirt, do you think Dipper and Mabel will come earlier than we planned?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t.”

“I hope they do. I want to show them Jason Funderberker.”

“Yeah. I think they would love that. Say Greg, where is that frog?”

Greg blinked, reaching up to pat Jason Funderberker but only feeling his own hair. “Aw, beans! Where did that frog of ours go?”

Wirt helped him look around for Jason Funderberker. The frog ended up being beneath one of the giant and towering oak trees, almost reading what Wirt was thinking. He let out a soft croak as Greg scooped him up.

“I found him!”

“Mm. Why don’t we sit here for a while? It’s nice underneath the shade.”

“Can we play I Spy then?”

“Yeah. That sounds nice.”

Wirt sat down with his back to the tree, leaning against the huge and aged trunk. Greg flopped down onto the soft grass, placing Jason Funderberker in his lap.

“I spy… something blue.”

“You need to be a bit more specific than that, Greg.” Wirt rolled his eyes.

“But there aren’t that many blue things around here!”

“Okay, okay. The sky?”  
“Wrong.”

“That old bench over there.”

“Nope!”

“My shirt?”

“Took you long enough.”

Wirt facepalmed. “How was I supposed to know? There’s a lot of blue things around here.”

“Is not.”

“Is too.”

“Is not!”

“Is too!”

“ _Is not!_ ”

“ _Is too!_ ”

Wirt threw his hands up in the air, letting out an exasperated groan. “You’re impossible sometimes. I swear, it’s almost like we’re back in the Unknown.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Greg’s face had become serious.

“I… I don’t suppose it is. Greg, I didn’t mean it that way.”

“I wonder how Beatrice is doing. Do you think she’s still a bluebird?”

“Hm, she may not be. I did give her those bird scissors before we left…” Wirt’s voice trailed off as one thought suddenly shot through his mind: how was it that they had woken up when they did? _We blacked out after sinking into the water, and then the next thing we’re walking through the woods, further and further into the Unknown. Greg had acted like there wasn’t a worry in the world, but I had known something was off from the beginning. It doesn’t make any sense. How could we have both shared the same dream? Maybe it was a hallucination...whatever it was. And Jason Funderberker was even there! When we woke up in the hospital, Greg was shaking him around, his belly still lighting up after swallowing Auntie Whispers bell that controlled the demon within Lorna. It doesn’t make any sense._

“... Wirt! You’ve got that blank expression on your face again!”

“Sorry, Greg. I was just thinking.”

Greg, who was sprawled out on his stomach, propped his head up with his arms to look up at his half brother. “What were you thinking about?”

“The Un - um, what we could all do when Mabel and Dipper get here. What do you think they’d like to do? You be the leader for the day.”

“The leader! Holymoly hotdog, that’s a lot of power. I hope I don’t knock down a tree with my power this time.”

“Knock down a tree? But that was the… oh. Hmm, yes. Do be careful this time, O Captain of mine. We certainly don’t want any of the greenery around here being rooted up and knocked down by your mighty power!” Wirt chuckled, making a point of saluting.

The eight year old jumped to his feet, returning the salute. “Aye, Second Mate Wirt! Ready the sails! We’re about to set sail!”

“But where to, Captain?”

“Easy, we’re to sail to Mabel and Dipper’s house!”

“But we don’t know where they live.”

“Oh, right.”

“Maybe we can show them that big pond in the middle of the park today?”

“Yes! And we can eat snow cones by it too!”

Wirt opened his mouth to agree with Greg, but his buzzing phone caused him to close it. He dug his phone out of his pocket and checked the messages. Dipper had texted him.

**_Hey. You up yet?_ **

Wirt replied, ** _Yeah. I’ve been up since seven. Greg wanted waffles._**

**_Oooh, sounds delicious. Saved any for me by any chance? o:_ **

**_I’m afraid not. Greg’s stomach is like a black hole._ **

**_Shame. Well, Mabel made me text you to tell you that we’re on our way to the park. She wanted to be there a little early._ **

**_See you here. Greg and I have been here for a while already. We’re under one of the trees near the south side of the park._ **

**_Be there soon._ **

“Is that Dipper?” Greg inquired, attempting to peer at the screen of the phone.

Wirt stuffed it back in his pocket. “No peeking, and yeah, it is. They’re on their way.”

“Woohoo!”

About ten minutes later, Wirt saw the twins walking along the path. Mabel was laughing with a twisted sort of glee while Dipper was glaring at her.

A high pitched screech came from Mabel’s mouth when she saw Greg sitting on the ground next to Wirt. She dashed over and swept him up.

“Hello, Greg!”

Greg beamed at her, “Hi, Mabel! What a great pleasure it is to meet you on this fine day!”

“Wirt, your brother is adorable, oh my gosh.” Mabel had set the eight year old on the ground, but a huge grin was plastered across her face.

“Try saying that when he wakes you up early in the morning, demanding that you cook him waffles,” Wirt said, giving Greg a glare. Greg stuck his tongue out at him.

“Still think it’s a shame you didn’t save us any,” Dipper said, sitting down on the grass next to Wirt.   
“Pff. I would have saved you some if I knew you wanted them and if Greg didn’t scarf down most of them.”

Greg stuck his tongue out at Wirt again.

Before Dipper got the chance to ask them all what they wanted to do, Greg grabbed Mabel’s hand and dragged her away, shouting, “Off to the pond!” The two boys looked at each other, simply shrugging and following after Greg and Mabel, knowing that those two would always get their way.

Siblings.

“Did you finish the history review?” Dipper asked, walking to Wirt’s right.

He nodded, “Yeah. I think I finished it sometime Thursday. Hope the test is easier than the review.”

“It probably will be. Tests are always easier than the reviews. Most of the time the teachers just want to prepare us for the test by making the reviews hard, and then kids do well on the test. Well, those who do them anyways.”

“Yep. I try to do them most of the time. Though it’s a little hard to when Greg starts pestering me to go on a treasure hunt or something.”

Dipper let out a laugh. “That sounds like Mabel, except with her, she likes to throw sparkles over my desk or tease me about-” he stopped talking, then quickly said, “I think Greg and Mabel are waiting for us. Come on.”

Wirt wanted to ask about what Mabel teased Dipper about, though something told him he better not ask about the subject. Dipper looked somewhat embarrassed already.

“Look who finally caught up,” Mabel snickered as the two boys strode up next to them.

“Greg _did_ drag you away,” Wirt muttered under his breath.

Mabel snorted, “Not my fault you two are so slow.”  
“Mabel, Mabel! Did you know that there’s a snow cone vendor on the other side of the pond? They even have little food dispensers that you can get feed from to throw to the fish!” Greg exclaimed, excitement shining in his eyes.

“Really? Well, good thing we brought some money. How about we all get some snow cones?” she suggested.

“Yeah!”

Wirt nodded, “Snow cones sound amazing right now.”  
“I’m game,” Dipper said.

Greg and Mabel skipped ahead, once again leaving the two boys behind.

“Is Greg usually this hyper?” Dipper inquired.

“Sometimes. Well, actually yeah. He’s always doing something, whether it’s playing with Jason Funderberker, drawing and coloring his pictures, or acting out one of his skits that he came up with. The only time it’s quiet is at night, when everyone is asleep. Although, on nights when Greg can’t sleep or has nightmares, he likes to come in my room since he knows that I’m usually up late at night.” _And why am I blabbing all this to him?_ Wirt thought.

Dipper opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by the shout of Mabel, who was chasing after Greg.

Greg had fallen and was rolling down the hill, heading straight for the pond.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I regret nothing. *cackles*


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter that's long overdue. 
> 
> Come yap at me to work on the next chapter over at tumblr because god I'm bad at procrastinating and I'm hoping the next one won't take as long. 
> 
> http://lyeox.tumblr.com/

Wirt sprung into action instantly, dashing across the remaining space between him and his brother, sudden adrenaline pumping through his body. The pond was too far. _Too far, too far, too far!_ His heart thudded in his chest, the feeling of utter dread twisting his stomach in knots. Every step took too long and every second was like a century, ever so slowly ticking by.

“Greg!”

Wirt scooped Greg up just before he tumbled into the too terrifying, too murky, too cold water. He could still feel it, splashing in and breaking the surface, the cold fingers of the lake dragging them under, further and further into the dark water. He could feel the world dimming as they sunk, the loss of that sweet, precious air all too great.

He refused to let that night happen again.

“Wirt, I can’t breathe. You’re squeezing me to death.”

He looked down at Greg in his arms, “Oh, um, sorry.” Wirt set him down, warily glancing at the water’s edge.

“I’m okay. See?” Greg danced around to prove his point.

“Yeah… yeah, okay.”

The two twins had caught up with them. Mabel knelt down, asking once more if Greg was alright.

“Yes, yes, I’m okay! No broken bones!”

“Can we… can we get away from the water?” Wirt queried, not wanting to be by the water any longer.

All four of them relocated underneath a huge oak tree, lounging in its wonderful shade.  Wirt crossed his legs as he sat with his back to the direction of the pond, not wanting to even look at it. He picked mindlessly at the grass, staring blankly at the ground. Greg and Mabel chatted nonstop, and even their talk couldn’t penetrate the wall that Wirt had set up.

The Unknown and the Beast had filled his mind, haunting him.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Wirt blinked, snapping out of his trance. Dipper sat in front of him.

“Oh, um, not - not really.”

“What was it then? If you don’t mind me asking.”

He was quiet for a couple minutes, continuing to rip at the grass, like how he ripped the vines off himself once waking up and finding that Greg had vanished.

“It’s complicated.”

“If anything is complicated, it has to be Gravity Falls,” Mabel butted in, sitting down to Wirt’s right and Dipper’s left. Greg sat to Wirt’s left, completing the square-like circle.

Greg wondered aloud, “Gravity Falls?”

“Dipper and I go there during the summers. Our Grunkle Stan runs the Mystery Shack, where he attracts tourists with his ‘rare specimen,’ which is mainly creatures he’s glued together,” Mabel explained. “Grunkle Ford stays in the basement most of the time, working on his super duper secret projects that only him and Dipper are supposed to know about. But the real interesting thing is that there’s all sort of secrets to the town! Within our first two weeks there three years ago we came across some gnomes.”

“Not until you were kidnapped by them,” Dipper sniggered. “ _Oh, please be our queen! You’re just perfect!_ ”

“I wasn’t expecting Norman to be a couple of gnomes! And you thought he was a zombie too.”

“When they’re all disguised up like that, it’s hard to tell. He had all of the signs to be a zombie, except for the brain eating part.”

“ _Anyways_ , we know all about complicated and spooky scary stuff. Dipper starts to go crazy halfway through the year because he misses Gravity Falls, so the paranormal sightings start early for me.”

“I do not!”

“Keep telling yourself that, brobro.”

Dipper let out a huff of defeat, knowing that he couldn’t best Mabel this time.

“So what’s on your mind, Wirt?” Greg poked his shoulder.

It came out as a hoarse whisper. “The Unknown.”

“The Unknown?” came from both of the twins.

“It’s where we met Beatrice! Oh and Uncie Endicott! And the Woodsmen!” Greg shouted, a grin breaking out on his face. “We accidentally crashed a festival while some pumpkin people were celebrating, and all we had to do was a couple hours of labor. Beatrice got us out, but Wirt was stalling for us. Turns out the holes we were digging weren’t our own graves, but it was the life of the party! The pumpkin people weren’t really pumpkins, there were skeletons in them! Oh, oh, oh, and - ”

“Greg, I-I think they get it.”

The two brothers had the twins full attention. This was something they had _not_ read in the journals. Well, what Dipper hadn’t read anyways. It was new. It was interesting, and they wanted to know more.

“How did you come across them?” Dipper asked.

“Where are they? Can we go see them?”

“When did you see them?”

“Pumpkin people, pumpkin people!” Mabel chanted.

Wirt’s breath caught in his throat. He wish that Greg hadn’t mentioned the Unknown, not with Halloween a couple weeks away.

“We don’t know how to get back to the Unknown,” he muttered, tearing at the grass again.

“How’d you get there?” Dipper still wanted to know more.

Wirt sighed. “We’ll just have to start from the beginning… Last Halloween, Greg and I were walking to the graveyard to meet up with some friends. We were talking with them when a policemen showed up, and all of us scattered. Both of us climbed up onto one of the walls surrounding the graveyard, and then we jumped over the garden wall. Greg found Jason Funderberker, and… and we started fighting. There was a train… we jumped, and rolled down the hill, right into the pond below. I don’t know how, but the next thing we knew, we were walking in the forest, wandering and wandering. We came across a lot of different things, most of which we didn’t understand, still don’t understand. After… after we defeated the Beast, we left the Unknown, and woke up at the bottom of the pond. We were under for a couple of minutes, but it felt like we were in the Unknown for weeks. I grabbed Greg and Jason Funderberker and swam back to the shore. I fainted, and don’t remember much after that.”

Silence.

Mabel surged forward, wrapping her arms around him and pulled him into an embrace. “I didn’t - we didn’t realize, oh, Wirt! I’m so sorry you had to go through that!”

Wirt began shaking.

Greg crawled in his lap and hugged him too. “It’s okay, Wirt. We’re here! We survived the Unknown. Everything is okay now.”

Dipper hung back for a moment, but gave in and hugged Wirt as well.

“G-guys, it’s okay. I’m okay. It’s just - I’m not - I don’t really talk about this.”

“I’d imagine not, Wirt!” Mabel was still frantic, and she hugged him the tightest.

“We didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. Mabel and I are, well, we like paranormal stuff. Ever since Gravity Falls, we go chasing after anything we can find.” Wirt felt Dipper’s breath on the back of his neck, which gave him the goosebumps.

“It’s okay. Can we… can we go walk around or something? That seems nice right now.”

“Yeah! Let’s go see the rest of the park!” Greg agreed.

The four got off the ground, all watching Wirt to make sure that he was really alright. He gave them a shaky smile and nodded at them, trying to prove that he was fine.

Dipper hung back with Wirt as they walked, both of them silent, as Mabel and Greg walked in front of them. Wirt kept his eyes on the ground, continuously mentally kicking himself for blabbing about the Unknown and letting Greg know that there was something troubling him. He must have figured it out when they were waiting for Mabel and Dipper, but didn’t want to say anything. Greg had gotten better about being able to read what was on Wirt’s mind, though Wirt was a much better brother to Greg now.

“Wirt?”

“Hm?” Wirt glanced over at Dipper, who was giving him a serious stare.

“Your shoes are untied.”

“Oh, oh gosh. They must have come untied earlier…” Wirt kneeled down on one knee, beginning to tie his left shoe first. He felt the blood rush to his cheeks as he did so, and blushed more so when he tied his other shoe. _How_ they had come untied evaded him. Gosh, it was so embarrassing. “That, um, that sometimes happens when I’m in a rush.”

“Greg rushed you this morning?”

“Sort of? I may have told him that his favorite show was on in an attempt to keep him downstairs while I got ready. He stormed upstairs and practically dragged me downstairs, so I didn’t have enough time to properly tie my shoes.” Wirt stood up, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

Dipper laughed, “He’s full of energy, I’ll tell you that. He’s exactly what Mabel needs too. Sometimes I can’t keep up with her. Must be from too many late nights.”

“Doing what? Clicking your pen?”

“Not _all_ the time. But man, that used to drive Mabel up the wall when we still shared a room at the shack.”

“Seems like you two have a lot of fun there.”

“Yeah. There’s nothing like chasing after monsters day and night, and solving mysteries. It’s a lot of fun.” Dipper paused. “You and Greg should come with us this summer! We could show you a lot of things!”

Wirt blinked. “Come with you? To Gravity Falls?”

“Totally!”

“I don’t know. I mean, Greg and I would have to get the okay from our parents, and then they would have to pay for the tickets, which could cost a lot. And rooming! Where would we stay? Do your Grunkle’s - can’t believe I said that - have enough room for us? Food too. Greg sometimes eats nonstop all day and - ”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down there. I’m sure we could work something out. Summer is a while away. We’ve got time. Plenty of it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Dipper grinned.

“Okay, then. We’ll go with you to Gravity Falls this summer.”

“Great!”

Mabel called after the two, “Are you guys coming or are you going to keep standing there flirting?”

“Fl-flirting?” Wirt sputtered, daring to risk a glance over at Dipper. He certainly wasn’t doing such a thing… but then again, he did have an uncanny habit of subconsciously doing things without knowing.

Dipper’s face went red, and he yelled back at his twin, “Mind your own business, Mabel!”

Mabel let out a cackle, “Never, brobro.”

Wirt gave Dipper a reassuring smile. “Siblings just love to tease. Greg does it to me all of the time.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The four continued to wander around the park for a while, Dipper and Wirt hanging back to talk about their own little things. They enjoyed being able to chat without worrying about having a teacher breathing down their backs, hovering over them to keep at their work. Dipper found out that Wirt had a love for poetry, and much to both of their delight, Dipper shared his love for it as well, though it wasn't as great as Wirt's.

Greg wandered up to Wirt. “Can Mabel and Dipper come eat dinner with us tonight?”

“I dunno, Greg. They'll have to ask their parents and we'd need to ask ours too.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind!”

“We still need to ask them.” Wirt took out his phone, already dialing Tom’s number. Once Tom answered, Wirt explained what was going on and if the twins could come over for dinner. He shortly hung up after.

Greg looked up at his older brother expectantly.

“They can come over for dinner. Dipper, have you asked - ”

Mabel butted in, “I’ve already asked them. Mom said it was okay too.”

“Woo! Mabel and Dipper are coming over!” Greg cheered, being swept up into Mabel’s arms as the two spun around, both grinning and laughing.

“Race you there.” Mabel cast a look at Dipper and Wirt, taking off with Greg still in her arms.

The two boys dashed after them, Wirt lagging behind Dipper as he wasn’t exactly one for running. Mabel was weighed down by Greg but _boy_ could see run, even with him. Wirt tried to ignore the burning in his chest, his breath beginning to come out ragged as his legs started to slow down. A couple more steps and he stopped, putting his hands on his knees, looking down at the ground as he fought to catch his breath.

“You alright there?”

“Y-yeah, I’m okay. Just not used to running.” Wirt stood up, knowing that his face was probably flushed and sweaty.

“Didn’t take you for the running type, no offense.”

Wirt let out a breathy laugh. “Oh, I know I’ll never be the running type.” His eyes flickered up the road where their siblings were doing a celebratory dance in the front yard, having won the race. “Looks like we lost.”

“Yep.”

The two boys joined up with the other siblings in the yard, listening to them boast about how they won and deserve to get more dessert. Naturally, there was no objecting to that since Mabel and Greg were already going to snatch more anyways.

Dinner consisted of gravy over rice, corn, green beans, and mashed potatoes (Greg wished he had molasses for the mashed potatoes but launched into singing ‘Potatoes and Molasses’ anyways.) Tom and Sheila, in the end, loved the twins. They told stories of their adventures at Gravity Falls over dinner, answering any questions that either Tom or Sheila had for them. Sheila shooed everyone out of the kitchen after dinner and dessert (Mabel and Greg got extras) claiming that she didn’t need help cleaning it up. Tom excused himself to his office, leaving them to watch television in the living room. Greg was quick to fall asleep, having curled up in Mabel’s lap, to which she shortly followed.

Wirt found himself smiling fondly at the two, wishing that he could be that carefree.

“Hey, so could you tell me more about the Unknown?” Dipper asked in a low voice.

“Yeah, but not here. Follow me.” Wirt led Dipper out to the back porch. He sat down on the edge of the wooden boards, his legs long enough to touch the grass below. Dipper sat next to him, though his toes barely reached the grass. Wirt had to refrain himself from making a comment on how short he was.

“So, uh, what do you want to know?”

“Tell me about the Beast. What did it look like? What sort of powers did it have?”

Wirt ran a hand through his hair. “Well, it was hard to see the Beast since it was always shrouded in darkness, but it was tall, really tall. I want to say maybe around 7 or 8 feet tall, I dunno. But god, it was terrifying. I’d look up at him and feel a sense of dread and complete cold fall over my body when I met its eyes.”

“What did its eyes look like?”

“White? I mean, they looked white from afar, but the closer you got you could see there were different rings of color in them. Blue, light yellow, darker yellow, and red for its pupils.” Wirt shivered, “It’s something I try not to remember, you know? Anyways, the Beast looked like it’d be wearing a black cloak of fur, but in reality it was made up of wood, edellwood, with faces _everywhere_. It had horns too, gnarled and twisted horns that almost looked like the branches on the trees. When the Beast spoke, it had a deep and almost soothing voice, but with an underlying tone of manipulation. It… It almost convinced me to take the lantern to keep Greg alive.”

“How would that work?”

“By taking the lantern, I’d have to chop up edellwood trees to make oil, in return keeping the lantern lit. Greg - his soul - would be inside the lantern, and that’d be the only way to keep him alive. It was the same trick the Beast pulled on the Woodsman. I realized that it was actually the Beast’s soul in the lantern, and well, I blew it out. I don’t know if that killed him or not, but I was glad that he was gone.”

Dipper had been furiously typing down stuff on his phone, which Wirt presumed was notes on what he had been saying. He turned his phone to him, “This look like the Beast?”

On his phone was almost an exact picture of the beast. Wirt’s breath caught in his throat. 

 _Those eyes._

“Y-yes, oh my god, it looks exactly like him,” he breathed, clutching the wooden boards with his hands hard enough that it hurt and his knuckles turned white. Dipper had captured the way the Beast looked perfectly. 

“Jeez, I’d be crept out too if this guy stalked me through the woods.” Dipper noticed Wirt’s uneasiness. “You alright there?”

“I’m okay. Just, it’s hard to see the Beast after all this time and with Halloween coming up too. Greg wants to wear our costumes from last year and I’m worrying that something similar will happen this year. I know, it’s absurd for me to think that way.”

“Oh, no, it’s perfectly okay for you to think that, Wirt. God, I’d be terrified out of my mind for Halloween too if something like that had happened. I completely understand.” Dipper placed his hand over Wirt’s, giving it a comforting squeeze. “I’ll make sure that nothing bad happens to you this Halloween, alright? You have my word on that.”

Wirt nodded, a bit flustered from Dipper’s touch. “Okay, I’m holding you to that.”

Much to Wirt’s disappointment, Dipper took his hand away and stretched, “Mabel and I should really start heading back. It’s getting late and it’s going to be a chore separating Mabel from Greg.”

“You’ve got that right,” laughed Wirt, standing and holding his hand out to Dipper. He took it, but Wirt _may_ have underestimated himself because when Dipper’s foot slipped off the edge, he brought Wirt tumbling down to the ground with him. The two boys landed with a _thump_ , both winded from the fall.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Dipper’s voice sounded closer than ever. And that’s when Wirt realized that he wasn’t on the grass where he should be, but on something breathing, comfortable, and Dipper.

He was laying on Dipper.

Wirt squeaked, “I’m perfectly okay!” He looked down at Dipper, realizing that his flushed face matched Wirt’s own. The two froze for a second, brown eyes locked on brown eyes. Wirt tried to ignore the fact that Dipper’s hair was slightly tousled, looking curlier than usual, or how that blush graced his cheeks, making him look cuter than before, or how his lips were parted slightly, those kissable lips, and his hands were on Wirt’s shoulders and -

“Oh, oh my god, I’m so sorry.” Wirt felt new embarrassment rush through him, quick to leap to his feet. He didn’t trust himself to even _try_ and help Dipper up this time.

Dipper got up, brushing off any grass that may have stuck to his clothes. “It’s okay. I mean, stuff like that happens so it’s no big deal.”

“Y-yeah.” Wirt started up the stairs, trying to forget what just happened. Mabel and Greg were still asleep on the couch, and with a bit of coaxing, Dipper was able to wake Mabel up long enough to sling her across his back, holding her up by hooking his arms under her legs. Mabel’s arms draped over his shoulders, her head smooshed into his shoulder. Wirt held Greg in his arms, small enough to be held close to his chest (though Wirt struggled to hold his younger brother since he wasn’t exactly the strongest person.)

“I’ll see you at school Monday,” Dipper said, keeping his voice low.

“Yeah.”

“Good night, Wirt.”

“Good night, Dipper.”

Wirt waited for Dipper to close the door behind him before trekking up the stairs, careful to not wake Greg. He nudged the door open with his foot, softly telling Jason Funderberker to hush as he laid Greg down on his bed. He didn’t close the door all the way, keeping it cracked and retreating to his room. Wirt stayed up for a bit longer, wanting to play his clarinet but knew it would wake his brother, so he settled for reading a book that contained different poets’ works in it. He eventually dozed off himself, book resting on his stomach with the lamp still on, providing only enough light for him to read. He woke to his bed dipping under the weight of someone else, causing Wirt to groggily open his eyes.

“Greg?” he mumbled, propping himself up on his elbows.

“I had a bad dream. Can I stay in here tonight?” It looked like there were dried tears on his cheeks.

“Yeah, sure, of course.” Wirt put his bookmark in his book and dropped it to the floor, scooting over to the edge of the bed to turn off the lamp. Greg settled on the space between Wirt and the wall, clutching at Wirt’s shirt when he turned on his side to face Greg. Wirt placed his arm over him, pulling him close and petting his hair. “Want to talk about your dream?”

“It was horrible,” he mumbled, voice muffled. “We were in the Unknown, and Beatrice was flying ahead of us when she suddenly turned into leaves that blew away in the wind. The Beast jumped out at us and took you. He took you away, Wirt. I tried chasing after you but there were edellwood roots wrapped around my ankles and I couldn’t save you and I tried calling and calling for you.” He began sobbing, and Wirt rubbed his back soothingly.

“Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay. The Beast won’t take me, not now, not ever. I’m here and that’s what matters. It’s a rock fact.”

Greg’s sobs gradually quieted, and soon his breathing slowed down as sleep overcame him. Wirt spent a while more awake, body curled around Greg’s, waiting and waiting for sleep to come to him once more, trying not to think about how the branches from the tree outside occasionally scratched his window, how his body seemed chilled even though he was covered by his comforter, or how the wind sang a low and eerily familiar tune of an enemy of old.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't you just love cliffhangers. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I'm especially bad at leaving my chapters off on cliffhangers.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://lyeox.tumblr.com/
> 
>  
> 
> Shout out to Nour for cheering me on all these months while I've been trying to write this.

Of course Greg wanted to wear their costumes from last year for Halloween. Of course Mabel insisted that they wear it. Of course that Wirt didn’t have a choice but to wear it. And of course Dipper insisted that Wirt wear it. The moment Greg started pouting was the moment that he was going to wear it.

He had no choice but to put on that costume. If it even could be considered a costume. It was more than that, much more, so much more. The amount of memories the outfit contained was almost unbearable and he didn’t want to think about them.

“Wirt, are you almost ready? Mabel called the home phone and said that her and Dipper were heading over to our house.” Greg appeared in his doorway, holding Jason Funderberker in his arms.

“Y-yeah, I’m almost ready.” He hadn’t even buttoned up his white shirt all the way.

Greg huffed, trying to seem mad but looked even more adorable than he already was. “The candy is calling to me! I don’t want to be late.”

“Since when did you get all demanding?”

“It’s Halloween.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll be downstairs shortly. And Greg?”

"Yes?”

“Let’s stay away from the graveyard this year, okay?”

“Okay, Wirt. I promise.”

“Good. Now go wait for me downstairs.” Greg’s footsteps soon faded as he walked down the stairs.

Wirt finished buttoning up his shirt, then sat down on the floor to tug on his shoes, not really taking notice that one was brown and the other was black, or the fact that his socks weren’t even matching. He stood, walking over to his desk to grab his cloak when he was hit with a wave of anxiety.

“No, no, no,” he muttered, feeling his heartbeat speed and his breath starting to come out shorter.

The walls felt like they were closing in on him and he couldn't run, he couldn't run and there were people downstairs waiting for him.

Was he being too loud?

Was he being too slow?

Greg was waiting for him.

Wirt grabbed his cloak and threw it around his shoulders, only to fall to his knees.

It was cold.

The room was so cold and the cloak was made of ice. It was dragging him down, down, down, further and further into the darkened depths of the lake, away from the night air and from the life he had lived and had yet to live.  
He tried to stand and take a step, but only let out a strangled sob, thrusting his hand out to catch himself on the desk so that he didn't fall to the ground. His heart thudded in his chest almost painfully, beating so loud that he could hear it echoing in his ears.

The room grew darker, black trees sprung up from the ground and stood in a gnarled circle around his room, the bare limbs sagging under the weight of the pure, brilliant, white snow that covered their limbs.  
He couldn’t be back in the Unknown. He couldn’t. It wasn’t possible.

Panic, anxiety, panic, anxiety, anxiety, anxiety shot through his body. It wouldn’t leave, attacking his conscience and leaving him completely defenseless to its unrelenting assault.  
He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe. Air wouldn’t flow into his lungs. Everything was suffocating. The air had been sucked from the room entirely. He felt light-headed and the room spun - no, the forest spun. It got darker and darker, colder and colder, and he couldn’t -

“Wirt?”

The mortifying trees vanished, taking the snow and the chill with them. Light from the feeble light on the ceiling flooded Wirt’s vision. He blinked a few times, steadying his breath. His chest hurt and it was still hard to breathe.

“Hey, are you okay?”

He looked up and right into the worried brown eyes that belonged to Dipper. Understanding dawned on the other boy, causing Wirt to flinch and shy away.

“I-I’m fine,” Wirt mumbled, not wanting to look at him.

“Are you? Because it just looked like you were freaking out a second ago.” Dipper placed his hand on Wirt’s shoulder. “It’s because of Halloween, isn’t it? It’s been a year and you’re scared that something similar is going to happen this year.”

All he could manage was a weak nod. Something about Dipper’s touch was calming to him.

“Well, Mabel and I are going to be with you guys this year so there’s nothing to worry about. If we have to walk by any lakes, ponds, or even puddles I’ll make sure I’m walking closest to it.”

“Are you sure? It would be horrible if you fell in or something or - ”

“Wirt, oh my gosh, it’ll be fine. Nothing bad will happen when I’m around.”

“Promise?” He couldn’t stop the word from slipping out of his mouth.

“Promise.” Dipper gave him one of those ‘it’s going to be okay’ smiles, not wanting to mention that Wirt had tears in the corners of his eyes and that his face was red. He didn’t want to embarrass the poor guy any further. “Do you want to wait a second?

Because considering you were kinda having an anxiety attack, you may want a bit to calm down.”

“I think I should be okay. Thank you.”

Wirt collected himself enough to realize what exactly Dipper was wearing. Of course, he noticed this when Dipper was helping him off the floor and Wirt had to use his free hand to cover up the snort that came forth.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, nothing,” he chortled, turning his body away so Dipper couldn’t see the widening grin.

“Wirt.”

“Okay, okay,” Wirt said. “It’s… what are you wearing?”

“It was Mabel’s idea,” Dipper grumbled, his disapproval of the outfit very obvious. He had on a grey shirt, one that was closely fit to his body (Wirt tried not to stare and was that a hint of abs hiding under his shirt?) as well as fuzzy grey pants and a tail. Little ears stuck up out of his brown hair and a pair of modified shoes that had little toes and claws were on his feet.

“You’re a werewolf.” Wirt could barely contain his laughter.

“Yes, I am. Any other questions, garden gnome?”

Wirt kept laughing, “The cute werewolf is getting angry, oh my!”

Oh no.

He hadn’t meant to let that slip.

“Oh, so I’m cute like this?” Dipper smirked, lifting his arms up and flexing.

Wirt groaned and covered his face with his hands. “I didn’t mean to say that. You didn’t hear me say that, nope, totally didn’t hear me say that.”

“I think I did,” Dipper said, moving closer to Wirt. He reached up and tilted Wirt’s face downward, a ghost of a finger brushing over his lips. “If it makes you feel any better, I think this garden gnome is cute too.”

Wirt could feel his heartbeat speed up, his breath catching in his throat. He opened his mouth and closed it, gaping like a fish. A different look glazed over Dipper’s face, one that Wirt couldn’t place. What… what was he feeling? Wirt definitely felt something, but he didn’t know what. His heart fluttered just by looking at the guy and he got this odd feeling in his stomach. It wasn’t anxiety, it was sort of like excitement? Wirt didn’t know what it was. But he had a slight feeling as to what it was.  
_I want to kiss him_ , he suddenly thought.

Dipper snaked an arm around Wirt’s waist, snapping him out of his thoughts. Wirt felt like his face was on fire, and he could feel the tips of his ears turning red. He felt Dipper’s finger ghost over his bottom lip again, and that’s when something inside him went insane. He put his hands on Dipper’s shoulders, bringing his head down to meet Dipper’s lips. Their lips had almost met when -

“What’s taking so long up there?” Mabel’s voice broke the spell.

The two boys leaped apart, both realizing what they were about to do.

“Sorry Mabel! Wirt needed my help with um… with a question on some of his homework!” was Dipper’s reply, his voice cracking and earning a snort of laughter from Wirt.

“Homework? That’s so lame! It’s Halloween, get your butts down here! We have candy to hoard.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll be down in a second.”

Dipper looked at Wirt, who held his hand up to quiet him, “After Halloween. I’m sure both our siblings won’t wait for us much longer.” Grudgingly, Dipper nodded and followed Wirt out of the room once he grabbed his gnome hat and down the stairs where

Greg and Mabel were waiting not so patiently at this point.

Neither Mabel nor Greg said anything before pushing the two boys out of the house. They took off, chanting, “Candy! Candy! Candy!”

“There they go,” said Dipper, fixing his wolf ears.

“Come on, slowpokes!” came Mabel’s voice from already two houses down.

“We can only walk so fast,” grumbled Dipper, breaking into a jog. Wirt sped up a bit himself, only having to take longer strides to keep up.  
When they had caught up was when Wirt took notice of what Mabel was wearing. Seashells clattered as she moved and even in the dark she seemed to sparkle. Her hair had been braided in the back with ribbons woven into the braid. She wore a sleeveless light green shirt that was tucked into a super distracting darker green skirt that shimmered.

Mermaid. She was dressed up as a mermaid, and a rather attractive one at that. Wirt would never say that out loud since a more attractive werewolf was standing next to him. He wouldn’t say that out loud either. Nope. Never.

Wirt shook his head, directing his gaze to Greg. “We’ll follow you guys. Lead the way.”

Trick or treating went smoothly. Wirt mainly talked to Dipper as they walked, occasionally stopping to get candy from parents who weren’t herding their kids or grouchy young adults who had gotten stuck with giving out candy. Mabel snacked happily on various types of candy as they went from house to house. Greg refused to eat any of his candy; the idea of eating it before heading back home was practically considered a sin to the kid. The two boys’ bags were not nearly as full as Mabel’s and Greg’s, but still had a decent amount of candy in them. It seemed like everyone was generous this year, and Old Lady Daniels didn’t even make them do yard work for candy (much to Wirt’s delight.) And Wirt made sure that Greg stayed away from her garden, not wanting him to be a stealer again, but the little guy knew better than to do that after what happened last year.

Wirt didn’t see Sara buzzing around, but then again, she was most likely holding a Halloween party like she did last year. He hoped that they didn’t decide to sneak off and go to the graveyard again. That place was strictly off limits for both he and Greg. The twins seemed to realize this and didn’t press on about it, though Dipper dropped a view hints here and there that he was curious about it and would like to check it out, but Wirt ignored all of it. Mabel picked up on Wirt’s uneasiness and jabbed her brother in the ribs with her elbow, silently exchanging a message to him through her eyes for him to drop it. Dipper did after that.

As the evening dragged into night, Greg’s energy dropped and he started to lag behind, though he denied that he was ever tired.

“You want to head back?” asked Wirt after he slowed his pace to walk beside his younger step brother. He could tell he was getting tired.

“I can still hear candy calling my name!”

“Uh huh, as well as your bed. Also, how much candy do you have?” Wirt saw that Greg’s footsteps were heavy and his hands were red from the weight of the stuffed bag. Ignoring Greg’s protests, he snatched the bag of candy from Greg and shouldered it.

“Come on, let’s head home.”

“But!”

“No buts.”

Mabel nodded, agreeing with Wirt, “It’s getting late, yeah. Besides, if you still have some energy when we get back we can sort our candy. Candy sorting time, woo!”

“Oh, yeah! Wirt, let’s go. Getting home is now our top priority!” And with that, Greg shot off, a laughing Mabel on his heels.

“How he gets all that energy I don’t know,” mumbled Wirt, breaking into a jog to keep up with them.

Dipper smirked, “He’s still a kid. The only way Mabel can stay is so energetic is because she has a healthy diet of sugar, sugar, and more sugar.”

“I don’t think that’s healthy at all.”

“Oh trust me, it is for her. You never want to see her try to eat greens. It’s not a pretty picture.”

“I’m not even going to ask.”

It didn’t take long for the four to arrive back at the two brothers house, and by then Greg was dead on his feet. He didn’t admit to it, but by now it was obvious that he was really tired. He fell asleep on the couch, having barely gotten started on counting his candy.

Mabel gave both the boys threatening looks after Dipper said something to Wirt, and they took the hint: if they were going to talk then they’ll have to go somewhere else.

Wirt motioned for Dipper to follow him, leading him out to the back porch. They sat down, feet hanging off the edge. (Wirt could touch his feet to the ground if he wanted, but Dipper couldn’t since he was so short.)

“Not going to fall on me again, are you?” teased Dipper.

“Oh gosh, no. And that was purely an accident.”

“Suuure it was.”

“Dipper! I tripped!”

Dipper laughed, “Whatever you say, but I still think you did it on purpose.”

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“Did - oh my gosh, never mind. This reminds me too much of Greg.”

“You know you love it.”

Wirt shook his head, looking at the other boy with a smile on his face. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

The two became silent, content with listening to the few frogs croaking, the crickets chirping, and enjoying the soft pale light of the full moon above. Halloween fell on a good night: it wasn’t cloudy at all and the stars shone brightly in the sky. The slightly yellow moon was at its peak and illuminated the ground below, but yet kept the darkness of night visible. Wirt leaned back on the palms of his hands so that he could look up at the sky. The moment was peaceful, almost too peaceful for Wirt. Moments like these hadn’t happened often after his and Greg’s adventure to the Unknown. Well, if that could even be considered an adventure as terrifying and scarring as it was.

“I.. I want to go to the lake. Where it happened.”

And the peace was gone.

“Wh-what? Why?” Wirt said, his voice a whisper. A scared whisper.

“I hate to ask you about it, but I want to see it for myself. I get it if you don’t want to go. I wouldn’t want to either after something like that happening.”  
Wirt stood up, shaking his head. “I’ll take you, as much as part of me is screaming at me to not go. We’ll have to be quiet sneaking out of the house because I don’t want Greg waking up and asking where we’re going.”

“Oh, are you - are you sure?”

“Sure as I’ll ever be. Come on, just need to tell my mom we’re heading out again.”

Wirt didn’t know what had come over him, but he knew that he had to go to the lake tonight because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t ever get over the niggling fear of lakes. Something inside him told him he should be going.  
“Mom, Dipper and I are going out for a bit more. Be back soon,” Wirt said to his mom, who then in turn told them to be careful.

The walk to the lake was quiet. Wirt was busy mulling over the past, scenes that he'd rather forget haunting his thoughts. What would he find there? The Beast waiting for him, with those piercing eyes and deep yet silky voice, attempting to lure him into the waters of the lake and back into the Unknown. He pursed his lips, balling his hands into fists to stop himself from completely losing it right then and there in front of Dipper. He had to do this, he had to face his biggest fear if he wanted to overcome it. This was the only way.

"Wirt?"

"Y-yeah?"

"It'll be okay. I won't let anything happen to you." Dipper's voice sounded concerned, which was comforting for Wirt.

"Thanks." Wirt couldn't bring himself to say anything else.

They continued on in silence, their footsteps seeming to echo along the empty street, the streetlights providing barely any light. Wirt focused on them, counting the steps between the light and dark between each light. It helped some, but couldn't conquer the storm of anxiety brewing within him. The sign for the cemetery came into view, and Wirt's breath caught in his throat.  
It was here. Wirt was here. He was stepping into the cemetery, not feeling Dipper's hand slip into his and give his hand a reassuring squeeze. Time had slowed down and weaving through the old and weathered and the new and shiny tombstones didn't feel real. The full moon shone down on the ground, giving an eerie white-yellow glare to everything. Wirt could see the tree that he used to climb over the wall, it getting closer and closer. He wanted to stop walking and turn around, but his feet kept leading him towards that tree.

Wirt somehow managed to break free from whatever trance he was in, then comprehending the fact that they were holding hands. His face flushed red, basically matching Dipper's.

"I-I'm sorry, I thought it would help," Dipper stammered, releasing Wirt's hand and taking a few steps away. "I didn't think before I acted."

"No, no, it's fine. It's... it's nice. Holding hands, yeah. Especially with you. Oh, um, I'm just going to shut up now." Wirt bit his lip nervously.

Before Dipper could say anything else, Wirt said, "We have to climb this tree so yeah. Better not waste any time." He turned and startled scrambling up it, using the stone wall to pull himself up. He didn't want to turn around and look at Dipper, knowing that if he did he wouldn't be able to respond to anything that he'd ask. Instead, he listened and heard Dipper scrambling up the tree, having almost reached the top. Wirt let himself drop from the wall, absorbing the shock of the fall by bending his knees. He almost stumbled forward and managed to catch himself by throwing his hands out. Wirt let himself look towards Dipper after he had landed on the ground next to him. As Dipper met his eyes, he quickly looked away.  
Why was he having to act so awkward all of a sudden? They were just holding hands. It wasn't like Dipper liked him or anything.

...

Did he?

Wirt brushed the thought aside; it was stupid of him to think that way. Dipper couldn't possibly have feelings for him, in the romantic aspect. He also doubted the fact that anyone could develop feelings for him past friendship. Sara was proof of that after Wirt had confessed that he was crushing on her and she politely turned him down, telling him that she thought of him as a friend and couldn't imagine them being together. And so, Wirt worked past that and now the two were best of friends, the incident having been all but forgotten. At least to Sara. It still lingered on Wirt's mind from time to time, the lost chance at a relationship having sunk like a ship going down beneath the water.  
He would have continued to be lost in his thoughts if he hadn't come to realize where he was standing. The dark water, lit by the moon, silently lapped at the store, mere inches from Wirt's shoes. He barely remembered his feet moving, heading towards the lake with Dipper at his side.

Dipper.

Right. Dipper was here. They had held hands.

"Wirt?" came Dipper's tentative voice, further helping bring Wirt back down to earth. "Is everything okay?"

He took a shuddering breath, backing away from the water. "I can't - I shouldn't have come here. What was I thinking?" Everything was too much. Tonight was too much. He should have stayed home, curled up in bed and ignoring the whispers that he'd been hearing in the wind as this loathed day drew near. He was stupid, stupid, _stupid._

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay."

Wirt felt a warm hand on his shoulder, then the feeling of being brought into an embrace. He was shaking, all of the anxiety and fear of this night finally coming crashing down onto him, so hard that it was hard to breathe. He let out a strangled sob, letting his cheek press against Dipper's soft curls. The tears that formed in the corners of his eyes ran down his cheeks, his shoulders starting to shake as his emotions showed themselves.  
Dipper rubbed his back, resting his forehead against Wirt's shoulder and murmuring, "It's alright. It's okay. The Beast can't get you. He won't ever get you while I'm around. I promise."  
Wirt wrapped his arms around the other boy, for once not minding the close contact of another. Something about it felt... right. Wirt didn't know why and honestly, he didn't want to. Plus, he knew that something had changed in these few short minutes. Whatever it was, he didn't care. He was panicking and desperately needed to be comforted.

After a while of the two standing close to the water's edge, Wirt said in a soft tone, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied, voice muffled.

Neither had any intention to move away from each other, the moment peaceful and both were still greedy for physical touch, as much as they weren't willing to admit. But, after a while, the two stepped away, both blushing and awkwardness filling the air between them.

"That was um, yeah." Wirt was at a loss of words.

"I like you. Not like, friend like you, like like you," Dipper blurted.

"Y-you like me?" Wirt's heart skipped a beat. He felt the same way. Oh my gosh he felt the same way. "Oh my gosh. I thought that you wouldn't since I'm such a dork and - "  
Before he could finish his sentence, Dipper's lips were on his own. He was frozen with shock for a few seconds, his mind trying to process what exactly was happening. Dipper, the boy he'd been crushing on the moment they met, was kissing him. And Wirt was kissing him back, albeit a little shyly and uncertain. The kiss was short and sweet, the softness of Dipper's lips lingering in Wirt's mind.

"Oh," was all the hopeless poet could manage.

Dipper laughed, looking up at Wirt. "I've been waiting ages to kiss you."

"Well, it took you long enough," he teased, a faint blush on his cheeks. "So um, what now?"

"Maybe this is the part where I ask you to be my boyfriend? If that's... if that's what you want of course."

Wirt smiled, "I couldn't say no if I wanted. But um, I think we should start heading back soon. It's probably late and our parents may be wondering where we are."  
Dipper nodded, took Wirt's hand, and started heading back towards the wall. Wirt, still giddy with excitement and unable to wrap his head around what happened, was content.

This year, Halloween turned out to be more than he hoped.


End file.
